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Mets figure in Mitchell Report findings

Mets figure in Mitchell Report findings

By Marty Noble
/
MLB.com |

NEW YORK -- The Mets hardly had been free of the steroid controversy, considering the past revelations involving relief pitchers Guillermo Mota, Felix Heredia and Scott Schoeneweis, and of course, the involvement of Kirk Radomski, their former clubhouse attendant, as a source for much of the material in the Mitchell Report.

But the Report, released Thursday, indicates a number of players with Mets histories have been involved with steroids, including Lenny Dykstra as early as 1989 and Paul Lo Duca as recently as 2004, two years before he joined the Mets.

And in between, there have been at least 12 others -- David Segui, Josias Manzanillo, Todd Hundley, Matt Franco, Mo Vaughn, Chris Donnels, Todd Pratt, Mike Stanton, Mark Carreon, Paul Byrd, Gary Matthews and Fernando Vina. Each was mentioned in the Report, and each played for other teams besides the Mets.

The club did release a statement following the news conferences of former Sen. George Mitchell, who headed the investigation that spawned a 311-page Report, and Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig.

It read: "The Mets support Major League Baseball's ongoing efforts to eliminate the use of illegal performance enhancing substances. We fully cooperated in the Mitchell investigation and commend the Senator for his efforts in issuing his report."

Former Mets first baseman and current TV analyst Keith Hernandez said he regards the naming of names as a necessary evil that will help repair the game and help baseball move past a tarnished period.

"I'm glad it's exposed," Hernandez said. "It's important that it's all out there. I don't believe they'd put those names out there if they didn't have strong, convincing evidence. I'm glad there are specific names. People should know. Anything that happened from the beginning of the '90s up to the present is forever tarnished. And that should be noted.

"I feel for the guys who didn't use because they may be painted with the same big brush. It was an unfair advantage for the guys who used. There was no balanced playing field."

The findings of the Report concerning use of performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball were released at 2 p.m. ET on Thursday.

Several high-profile, superstar-caliber players were among those named in the Mitchell Report, the product of a 21-month, multimillion dollar investigation that could shape decisions, prompt punitive actions against active players, and usher in the next era of the sport.

Free agent Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte of the New York Yankees, Miguel Tejada of the Houston Astros, Eric Gagne of the Milwaukee Brewers and Lo Duca of the Washington Nationals were among the most prominent former and current All-Stars to be mentioned in the lengthy Mitchell Report, which spans 311 pages, plus multiple exhibits, including evidence of signed checks, handwritten notes and shipping receipts.

The players listed in the paragraph above are by no means the only players listed in the Report, but in MLB.com's review of the document, those names stood out by their notoriety. Our coverage will continue minute-by-minute through the course of the proceedings and for the foreseeable future thereafter, but the Mitchell Report is available for viewing in its entirety here at MLB.com.

While the Report detailed drug use in baseball by naming those accused, it also contained 19 separate recommendations for the sport to move forward from this point, proceeding after a culture of steroids and performance enhancement grew exponentially in the late 1990s.

Mitchell's report named both Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association in assigning blame, charging leadership -- from the Commissioner to club owners and general managers -- for allowing the issue to proliferate.

Marty Noble is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.